History

According to legend, Durran won the love of Elenei, the daughter of the sea god and the goddess of the wind, during the Age of Heroes. Her divine parents forbade their love, but Durran and Elenei wed despite them. The gods' wrath was terrible to behold, destroying Durran's keep on his wedding night and killing all his family and guests, but Durran survived under Elenei's protection. Enraged, Durran declared war on the gods, who replied by hammering his kingdom with massive storms. Each time Durran built a castle to face the sea the gods destroyed it.[1]

King Durran persisted in building larger and more powerful fortifications, until finally the seventh castle, Storm's End, stayed in place and resisted the storms of Shipbreaker Bay. Some believe this is because the children of the forest took a hand in its construction; others believe that a young boy, who grew up to be Bran the Builder, advised Durran on its construction. The truth of the matter is unknown.[1]

Afterward, Durran supposedly ruled for a thousand years. Archmaester Glaive proposed that the "King of a Thousand Years" was in fact a succession of monarchs all bearing the same name.[2] The Storm Kings of old from House Durrandon named their firstborn son and heir after Durran Godsgrief, complicating the research of maesters.[2]